New EU Programme to Support Enterprise and Innovation

The development of a new programme to provide financial support to businesses; and promote innovation took a step forward, when the European Council adopted a decision by the European Parliament to establish a new Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). A total of €3.2 billion will be available between 2007 and 2013 to support the competitiveness of enterprises, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to promote all forms of innovation, including eco-innovation. Grants will be made available through three specific funding programmes. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme, aimed at supporting SMEs; the Information and Communications Technology Policy support programme, focusing on the development of coordinated actions, the sharing of good practices and the deployment of interoperable solutions within Europe's information society; and the Intelligent Energy-Europe programme, aimed at fostering sustainable development, security of supply and competitiveness as relates to energy. The new programme will become operational in January 2007.

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/cip/index_en.htm